How to save time in the kitchen
Setting up your kitchen for time saving
Think about common kitchen tasks, what you need to complete them and where you plan to complete them in your kitchen. Where do you wash food? Where do you cut and prep food? Where do you cook food? Where do you wash dishes? Where do you store dishes? This will inform what will be the most efficient way to store items in your kitchen.
Ex: If you have a dishwasher, you probably wash most of your dishes in the dishwasher. Store dinnerware, cups and utensils as close as possible to the sink/dishwasher. Next in line are lesser used items like prepware, cookware, bakeware and food storage items.
Ex: You want to create a prep space where you wash/peel/cut and otherwise prepare food close to your fridge and sink. You’ll want cutting boards, peelers and knives to be within easy reach.
This applies to all kitchens, regardless of size. These principles work in a tiny postage stamp kitchen as well as a large kitchen.
Countertops are for working, not storing things - keeping your countertops clear will make even the smallest, most awkwardly laid out kitchen feel more spacious and functional. Be especially ruthless on these 3 areas: Your designated prep area (usually somewhere between the sink and the fridge), countertops directly adjacent to the sink and countertops directly adjacent to the range Keep your landing zones clear!
Your kitchen is too full - It is so much easier to access and put away items when cabinets, shelves and drawers are not brimming with items. Your kitchen storage, really the storage in the vicinity of your kitchen triangle, is your physical constraint and I believe physical constraints should be respected and celebrated. Besides, you can only use and appreciate a rather small number of items on a daily basis anyway. I recommend keeping only things you use on a daily basis in any storage you have in the vicinity of your kitchen triangle.This is the time to consider how many spatulas, peelers, can openers, ice cream scoops, pans, etc you need on a daily basis. I also recommend that if possible your kitchen storage should not exceed 75% of its stored capacity. Trust me when I say this makes your life so much easier!
The right gadgets (and just a few) - I find that I do a lot of chopping when preparing my recipes. If you do, too, I recommend investing in a mini-food processor. I use mine all of the time, especially when making soup, to cut up onions, carrots, celery, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and squash. I wash and cut the veggies in big big chucks, pulse a few times and my chopping is done. This easily saves me 10-15 minutes for a recipe that requires a lot of chopping and works especially well if you don’t mind the chop being less consistent than what you would get with a knife and cutting board (like soups, or if you’re mincing something very finely). And these mini food processors don’t take up much space and most are dishwasher safe. And while we’re on the subject of chopping, a few GREAT knives are all you need to get you through most kitchen tasks (say no to the knife set!)
Shortcuts for commonly used ingredients - This might be controversial but I’m a fan of minced garlic in a jar, frozen onions and chicken bouillon.
Wash your dishes in the dishwasher and do 2 loads if you need to. I really love stainless steel pots and pans because they are dishwasher safe. I rarely wash mine by hand. I also put my knives in the dishwasher. Also, dishwasher tetris is a real thing and can be stressful for some. If you find that you're having to do a lot of dishes by hand at the end of each day (or you’re trying to cram too much into the dishwasher causing dishes to not get completely clean), consider doing a load after breakfast or lunch. I read recently that running the dishwasher requires about the same water and electricity as running your kitchen sink for 8 minutes. So my preference is to use the dishwasher when possible to save time and effort.
Strategic batching of activities. I’m a big fan of making large batches of things that keep well. When you’re preparing a meal you use things like pots, pans, cutting boards, knives, measuring spoons, etc. The amount of clean up is typically the same whether you make 1 batch of the meal or 3. Soup comes to mind as a great candidate. Or I will make a large batch of the main part of a meal (meat, sauce, etc) and cook the grains or chop the veggies the same day I plan to eat the meal. I also make 4 loaves of bread at a time. Consider that batching has it’s limits. First, you are constrained by the capacity of your largest pan/pot. I personally own an 8qt stock pot and I max out the capacity on that thing anytime I make soups. I also own 2 instant pots (funny story, one was a prize from my dental office! Ha!) Some things are just better fresh (for me, freshly cooked rice and pasta are SO much better than leftover, so I typically make fresh for each meal). Same goes for a lot of chopped produce, they just don’t keep well. And sometimes it truly is close to double the work to double a recipe and in that case, I say, don’t bother.
Think about ways you can simplify a recipe. I cook often and I consider myself an above-average cook, able to produce meals that are routinely tasty and nutritious for my family and our guests. Since I have quite a bit of cooking experience and I’ve made some of our favorite meals many, many times, I’ve come to identify some ways to simplify the preparation instructions. This might include re-using pots and pans, adjusting the order things are cooked in, or subbing out something homemade for a store-bought alternative.
